Thursday, October 28, 2021

Change text wrapping to "In front of text" or Behind text" in Google Docs

In the past when you added pictures to a Google Doc you had to be creative to have the text "appear" to be in front of the image. Well now you officially can change the text wrapping of an image to "In front of text" or "Behind text" to layer images above and underneath text in Docs. If you would like to learn more about how to position and edit images in Docs.

Embedded below is a 1 minute and 9 second YouTube video.



Take care,

Brad

Monday, October 25, 2021

Three ways to get to Google Drive Shortcuts - 2 are actual shortcuts 😀

 If you would like to have the available shortcuts for Google Drive available for you while in Drive, you can have them pop-up two ways (of course you can always select the setting gear and then Keyboard Shortcuts - but hey - that really isn't a shortcut is it?)

  1. Shift ?
  2. Ctrl /

Embedded below is a 25 second YouTube tutorial.







Take care,

Brad


Sunday, October 24, 2021

10 YouTube tips in under 1 minute

The embedded YouTube video below will take you through 10 YouTube tips followed by the tips themselves.

  1. To go to full screen press the letter F.
    1. To exit full screen press the Esc or the letter F again.
  2. To Play/Pause your video press the letter K or the Spacebar.
  3. To jump ahead 10 seconds press the letter L to jump back 10 seconds press the letter J.
  4. To jump ahead 5 seconds press the right arrow key - to jump back 5 seconds press the left arrow key.
  5. Super SloMo - press the period. Keep press the period to move the video ahead frame by frame.
  6. Press the up arrow key to increase 5% in volume. Press the down arrow key to decrease the volume by 5%.
  7. Press Tab to gain control of the media player. To choose an action (like mute) press Enter.
  8. Press C for closed captioning.
  9. To move your video to a specific spot press the number 1 for 10% 2 for 20 20% and so on.
  10. To start your video over again press the number 0.
Take care,
Brad


Tuesday, October 19, 2021

How to use group maker in Classroomscreen.com

 Classroomscreen is an amazing online tool that allows you to "display the instructions for your lesson in a clear and visual way. Choose from over 13 widgets to support your class activities and help students get to work."

A new tool available to you is Group Maker (you can make 3 lists for free). Each list has the ability to have up to 100 names.

When you select Group Maker and choose your list you can then adjust how many groups or how many students in each group. 

Once your groups are created you have the option to move student names from one group to another as well as the ability to create exclusions in which certain students will not be grouped with other ones.

Embedded below is a 2 minute and 12 second YouTube tutorial.



Take care,

Brad

Saturday, October 16, 2021

How to create captions for any video (using Google Chrome)

 If you are playing a video and would like to see captions appear on your device you can now enable that with a solution already built into Chrome.

If you are playing a video, look into the upper right of your screen (next to extensions) and you will see something that looks like the image below (looks like a musical note with three lines).


Once selected you will see a snip of the video you are watching and at the bottom you will see Live Caption. Make sure to toggle icon to the right of it.


Embedded below is a 1 minute and 13 second YouTube tutorial.



Take care,
Brad



Thursday, October 14, 2021

How to remove news and interests on Windows-based machine

 If you have the news and interests popup keep coming up (especially teachers) and would like to remove it - simply right click on the weather and remove.


Embedded below is a 23 second YouTube tutorial.



Take care,

Brad

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

How to add a Watermark in Microsoft Word

With Google recently adding the Watermark feature to Google Docs - click here for tutorial  - I thought it would be a nice reminder on how to add a watermark in Microsoft Word. 


This is a nice feature as you can send home a document to families with a watermark of your choice, you can send docs to others with your watermark on it, etc.

Embedded below is a 1 minute and 15 second YouTube tutorial.



Take care,
Brad


Tuesday, October 12, 2021

How to add a Watermark to a Google Doc

Google recently added the Watermark feature to Google Docs. This is a nice feature as you can send home a document to families with a watermark of your choice, you can send docs to others with your watermark on it, etc.

Embedded below is a 2 minute and 23 second YouTube tutorial.



Take care,

Brad



Monday, October 11, 2021

How to change the size of the cursor if you use the extension - Custom Cursor

 If you / your child / your students would like to adjust the size of the cursor when using the extension Custom Cursor - simply choose the extension and top right choose cursor size (looks like a paper airplane). My friend's daughter showed me this yesterday. Thank you Felicity!!! 😃


Embedded below is a 49 second YouTube tutorial.


Take care,
Brad

Thursday, October 7, 2021

To learn more about your Chromebook, try the step by step interactive tutorials on Chromebook Simulator.

 If you would like to learn more about a Chromebook or a few tips, check out Google Chromebook Simulator.  This is a great tool if you are thinking about purchasing a Chromebook or have a few questions about a Chromebook.

You can see the different categories in the embedded picture below.


Embedded below is a 1 minute and 39 second YouTube tutorial.




Take care,
Brad



Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Office 365 email OWA - how to remove emails from being sorted into Focused and Other.

 In the district where I work we have recently moved to Office 365. One of the most commonly asked questions is how to remove emails from being sorted into Focused and Other.

While there are other ways to solve the issue at hand - here is one.

  • enter into the settings gear (upper right)
  • in the screen scroll down and choose View All Outlook Settings 
  • you will now see all the settings
  • make sure you have selected Mail (on the left) then Layout - then under Focused Inbox
    • choose Don't sort my messages
  • Choose save 
Embedded below is a 42 second YouTube tutorial.



Take care,
Brad

In Slides, PowerPoint, or Keynote how to pause your presentation & show a black or white screen.

 Tony Vincent shared the other day about pausing your presentation and having the screen show black or white.

In the middle of your presentation 

  • select the B key on your keyboard to pause the presentation and have the screen go to black. 
  • select the W key on your keyboard to pause the presentation and have the screen go to white
Embedded below is a 53 second YouTube tutorial.




Take care,
Brad